Trick AND Treat
by lostmind3
Summary: When Xander sees them on display at Ethan's Store, his idea for a Halloween costume changes. Wearing a khaki green jacket found in the back of his closet and combining them with a "My Name is " sticker and the 3 (ok, slightly tacky) golden-feathered wings, Xander chooses instead to go as someone from his childhood games of make believe. The Trickster.
1. Chapter 1: Aftermath

_Authors Note:_

 _Hi Everyone!_

 _I realize this is probably not the story people were hoping to see be updated. Sorry about that, though I promise I'm still plodding my way through Ghosts and Heroes. In the mean time this fic has been bouncing around in my story folder for a while, so I thought it was time I polished it up and posted it._

 _Now, this fic (as you might have guessed) is an Alternate Halloween fic where Xander gains powers. Specifically, that of the Archangel Gabriel. I want to clarify that in this fic, the world of Buffy is actually in a separate universe to the world of Supernatural - so the Scoobies will not be teaming up with Team Free Will. That said, Archangels are perfectly capable of travelling between universes..._

 _This fic will mostly likely be a collection of snippets rather than one cohesive plotline and chapters will almost certainly not be in chronological order as they are subject to the whims of my muse. As is par for the course with my writing, updating will most likely be slow: for this fic I have a grand total of two completed snippets ready, one mostly completed snippet that just needs editing/polishing and one incomplete chapter that has grown much larger than originally intended (and that has its own AU version, also a work in progress)._

 _Finally, I hope you guys enjoy the story and please feel free to provide constructive criticism or ask questions if you have them._

* * *

"Has everyone recovered from last night? Any lingering effects?" Giles asked

"It sucked." Buffy shrugged. "Miss prissy-noble was kinda useless, ya know? But I might just ace my French test this week."

Willow smiled ruefully.

"I, I tried seeing if I could still walk through walls? Thought maybe some ghosty-ness stayed behind?"

Giles looked up curiously.

"And how did that go?"

Willow's face turned into a pout.

"I bumped my nose."

"Oh. Well- yes, I suppose that is rather disappointing. Nevertheless, I for one am very grateful to have a fully corporeal Willow here as opposed to her ghost."

Willow smiled happily. Then jumped a little and turned to where Xander was leaning against the bookshelf, sucking a lollypop.

"What about you, Xander?"

"Hmm?" Xander looked up, startled from his quiet contemplation.

"Do you? Have anything left over, I mean? From the Trickster?"

Xander's face relaxed into his trademarked goofy grin.

"Just an even greater appreciation of all things sugary and sweet! Couple of memories of the Norse gods. Nothing big."

"Well I am grateful nothing more untoward occurred. It's never easy to predict just what chaos magic may do, it may very well have caused a more permanent change." Giles responded, with an air of relief.

"Lucky then." Xander quipped.

Behind him, invisible to human eyes, six wings rustled nervously.


	2. Chapter 2: Alone

_Authors Note: So here is the second completed snippet. I have no idea when the next one will be up, as I mentioned in last chapters notes it has grown to be much, much bigger than I expected it to. Still, I hope you enjoy what's here and as always I'm always open to constructive criticism and questions._

* * *

 _On that day the skies tore apart and fearsome beasts did come forth, to satisfy their endless hunger. And a war raged through the heavens and in the depths, burning all in its path. Light and darkness were consumed, leaving only shadows. The Dragon and the Sword did fight together once more, shining brighter than the Sun. And in the end there was Silence, and all that was left was Death._

Xander closed the ancient tome with a sigh, an ache in his heart – and his Grace. Leviathans – or something very similar. And all of Heaven and Hell sacrificed to stop them.

"Mutually assured destruction." He whispered sadly.

Well. He had known for a while that he was alone here. The utter Silence, where there should have been Song, was a big give-away. Still, he mourned his – _Gabriel's_ – brothers. His big brothers Michael and Lucifer reconciled in death, wasn't that somethin'? Xander smiled bitterly.

And that explained the Hellmouth too – after all, all of reality being torn to shreds by the Leviathans would certainly leave scars. The perfect dimensional weak points for demonic energies to leak through to spawn the many and varied monsters that plagued the Earth. Particularly with no more Heavenly Host to act as guardians for the earthly plane.

So. That left the question of what now. In another universe Gabriel had run from the fight, hiding from the pain of his brothers killing each other in his Dad's name. But Xander wasn't Gabriel and this universe wasn't the same. There was no conflicting loyalties when it came to the apocalypses here – where Gabriel's family was divided and broken, Xander's family was together and whole. And that's the way it would stay.

Fledging archangel or not, mentor-less or not; Xander would stand and fight. He would protect his family, hold them together so what happened to Gabriel's siblings would never happen to his.

But even so, Xander didn't think he would be revealing his new-found archangel status to the rest of the Scoobies anytime soon. He had enough Gabriel in him (and Xander-ness too) to want to avoid _that_ confrontation as long as possible.


	3. Chapter 3: Interest

_Authors note:_

 _I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural. Which is probably a good thing, or we would still be waiting for the next installment of season 1..._

 _A new chapter! What a miracle, right? As it is, I have to apologise because this is not the super long chapter I promised. That one is still in progress, so I figured while I was stumped as to how to complete it I might as well finish editing this snippet so I can give it to you guys. This one is a little different, told rom a perspective that isn't Xander's, so if you find anything a bit confusing hit me up in the comments and I'll be happy to explain. This one is set a little ways after the first two chapters (but before Angelus' first appearance), and is Xander's first interaction with Angel after his transformation._

 _Enjoy, and let me know what you think!_

* * *

Xander has been staring at him non-stop for about 5 minutes now. It's not unexpected – generally Xander does nothing but glare at him whenever they have to be within sight of each other – but this time it's different. For one thing he's not glaring. No, if Angel had to describe it he would say Xander seems more… thoughtful than anything. Speculative, even. The child chews absentmindedly on a chocolate bar he pulled from who knows where and just _watches_ him, like he's staring right into Angel's soul and the demon it hides. Its downright unnerving. Even his demon agrees, snarling deep within his mind.

"Xander." Angel bristles.

Amusement floods the boy's eyes. He leans back, casually arrogant, and takes a deliberate bite of his chocolate with a smirk.

"mmmeeeehhhh… Deadboy."

Angel's irritation flares to life and he glares at Xander, who merely flashes his eyebrows up and down tauntingly – still wearing that infuriating smirk.

Then Xander tilts his head and suddenly becomes serious, the speculative expression back in his eyes. It's a startlingly dangerous expression; probably because it holds a cold gleam of maliciousness there that _should_ be better suited for a demon plotting murder and mayhem, yet looks disturbingly natural on Xander's face.

"It's an impressive little trick, that curse." Xander said abruptly, taking Angel aback. "Bind the demon with a soul, force it to watch it strive for redemption all the while feeling the soul's remorse and guilt…"

Angel stiffens as his demon snarls, whipped into a frenzy by Xander's words. But he doesn't move. Doesn't say a word. He's pinned by those golden brown (and since when do Xander's eyes have flecks of gold?) eyes, once again feeling as though they are looking through his soul to the monster caged within.

"You gotta admit those are pretty good Just Deserts. I probably would have just killed you."

"You would have tried." Angel growls back – it's strange just how unsettled he is by Xander's comment. (It's not strange at all).

Xander may be the biggest advocate for his death in the group, save perhaps Giles, but he's also the most easily spooked. Hardly a threat. (Xander has always been the one willing to carry through with his threats, the one who survives time and time again and returns stronger, more determined, each time. He was never not a threat). Angel has never been bothered by his blusters, his dislike and anger. This little human boy isn't the first to hate him. He won't be the last. (Except this isn't hate. This is calculation. Amusement. Even though he is human, still just a child, Angel knew he couldn't stand against Xander and walk away unscathed. Not truly. Is it really so strange now, that Angel is unnerved?).

(Of course not. Xander is prey, but a predator sleeps within his heart. It wouldn't take much to wake it).

(What Angel denies is that it woke long ago).

Xander flashes one of those irreverent, wickedly amused smirks that started showing up after Halloween.

"Guess we'll never know." He quips, clapping a hand on Angel's shoulder as he turns to leave. "Catch you later, Deadboy."

Angel flinches slightly – instinctively recoiling from the contact in alarm. Not surprising really, Angel dislikes contact on the best of times, let alone from someone who despises and is despised by him as much as Xander. Not to mention the unexpectedly loud snarling from his demon that he had to wrestle back under his control. What was surprising was how easily his demon acquiesced, the feeling of sadistic _interest_ that had flared – directed at Xander – at the contact, distracting Angelus from his typical struggle.

 _Watch him, study him… he's_ _ **interesting**_ _. Watch him fight, watch him bleed, watch him_ _ **break**_ _._

Angel shoved his demon back down as best he could, but the murmurings still curled maliciously in the depths of his mind. The last time Angelus had felt this particular brand of intrigue the world gained an insane vampiric Drusilla. Angel shuddered and stalked out of the room.

He didn't know _why_ Angelus had fixated on Xander.

He didn't _want_ to know why, either.

(But he did).

(He knew).


End file.
